UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)

Search UvA-DARE

Making undocumented immigrants into legitimate political subjects: theoretical observations from the United States and France

Journal

Theory, Culture and Society

Volume | Issue number

30 | 3

Pages (from-to)

82-107

Document type

Article

Faculty

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG)

Institute

Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, the global North has witnessed the growing prominence of immigrant rights movements. This article
examines how this highly stigmatized population has achieved a certain degree of legitimacy in hostile political environments.
The central claim of the article is that this kind of legitimacy is initially achieved through the efforts of activists to
represent undocumented immigrants in ways that resonate with the normative values of the nation. The author examines how activist
networks are formed to present their cases within national political fields and the effects of this process on the political
identities of immigrants and their respective citizenship regimes. The process of gaining legitimacy is contradictory. It
contributes to nationalizing the political identities of foreigners and reproducing the exclusionary logic of national citizenship
regimes. But in doing this, it encourages those who cannot conform to national values to embrace more radical and universal
conceptions of rights. The generation of competing discourses and notions of rights (national versus universal) therefore
arises through struggles to make undocumented immigrants into legitimate political subjects.

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations

If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let
the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible
and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library, or send a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
You will be contacted as soon as possible.